Nearly half of all internet traffic is now generated by non-human sources, and a growing share of that activity is driven by increasingly sophisticated bots. In this episode of The Business of Cybersecurity, Neil is joined by Lynn Marks, Senior Product Manager at Imperva, to break down the findings from the latest Bad Bot Report and explore what businesses need to know as these threats accelerate.

Lynn explains why the shift in bot activity is no longer about brute force or exploiting technical vulnerabilities. Today’s attackers are targeting business logic itself. From automated purchasing of high-demand items to manipulating pricing and availability data in the travel sector, bots are now bypassing traditional security tools by taking advantage of how platforms are designed to function.

APIs are particularly vulnerable. Nearly 50 percent of account takeover attacks now target APIs directly, largely because they are abundant, consistently structured, and often poorly monitored. Shadow APIs and lack of cross-functional visibility create significant blind spots for security teams.

Some industries are facing an outsized share of these attacks. Gaming platforms are targeted for their in-game currencies and experience systems, while travel providers contend with constant scraping of flight data and availability. In both cases, attackers are capitalizing on high user demand and competitive pressure to exploit weaknesses in systems that were never built with these threats in mind.

Lynn also discusses the rise of residential proxies and mobile user agents, which make it increasingly difficult to distinguish real users from bad actors. And with a surge in global AI regulation expected in 2025, she outlines what organizations can do to prepare. From understanding internal AI use to implementing layered protection across APIs and mobile applications, Lynn provides practical advice for teams looking to get ahead of the threat curve.

In a digital world where nearly half of all traffic is now synthetic, how confident are you in your ability to spot the difference?